Global Vision, Global Action: Shining Light on a Global Scourge

(Photo: Owen Egan)

“Running a research group is like running a small business,” says Paul Wiseman with a laugh. “It’s hard to put a price tag on how valuable this support is.”

A McGill professor in the departments of physics and chemistry, Wiseman is one of the first recipients of the new Fessenden Professorship in Science Innovation, which gives him a “much-appreciated flexibility” to further develop his remarkable breakthrough in the detection of malaria.

Malaria is a global scourge with 350 to 500 million new cases, and one to three million fatalities, reported annually. Wiseman and his research team have developed a new technique that uses lasers and non-linear optical effects to quickly (and cheaply) detect malaria infection – by shining infrared laser light on blood cells, which excites a bright blue light glow from the parasites.

“This was not my main line of research – it was complete serendipity,” explains Wiseman. “When we first tried it, the light emitted from the parasites almost damaged our sensitive light detectors! I couldn’t believe it when I watched the image unfold on the computer screen.” Wiseman says these kinds of eureka moments are only possible when scientists have the resources to pursue “curiosity-driven science.” The Fessenden professorships were established by John Blachford, BEng’59, PhD’63, DSc’09, in honour of Blachford’s great-uncle, another curiosity-driven scientist, Reginald Fessenden.